Local author: Audubon’s roots found in Haiti

Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Advocate, has written an essay for The Wall Street Journal tying John James Audubon and the spirit of mourning that now pervades Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. Audubon was born on the island that later became Haiti, and as a young child there saw a monkey kill a parrot. Audubon later speculated the incident sparked an intense interest in bird art. Heitman suggests the event also helped crystallize Audubon’s sense of mortality, which is present in his artwork. “Audubon seemed infinitely fascinated by the precarious line that separates life from death, and how that line can vanish in a matter of seconds,” he says. “That dark recognition started for Audubon in what is now Haiti, and it gives his bird pictures an especially unsettling resonance as the people of his birthplace continue to mourn their dead.” Read the essay here. (Registration required)